Security software tie-up for national lab

30 April 2012

The UK's National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) has signed a partnership that will see it work with ARES to offer security simulation software to nuclear and other sites in the country.

An agreement between NNL and ARES Software was announced last week in London. Having already used ARES' Avert software to simulate attacks on NNL's main facility at Sellafield, the lab said it would now work with ARES to offer the product to "nuclear and other key sectors where defence against terrorism or similar threats is a major consideration." NNL's application of the software had been the first outside the USA.

The Avert software allows organisations to simulate an attack on a protected installation - such as a military facility, an airport or a nuclear plant - and also to model possible responses by security forces and physical protection equipment. The scenario can be visualised from the viewpoint of attackers, defenders or any other perspective including CCTV camera locations.

The software can give quantitative assessments of security performance, which allows various protection and defence strategies to be compared.

The lab's managing director, Paul Howarth, said he was pleased to combine NNL's nuclear expertise with ARES's expertise in simulation. President of ARES, Bill Vantine, said "Our mutual vision for securing nuclear facilities is to take a risk-informed approach to decisions regarding security operations and capital expenditure." He said he looked forward to making this vision "a reality for the benefit of the UK's nuclear facilities and other key infrastructure."